Category Archives: Personal Issues

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Needeh kittehs. Homer is being excessively needy today, which is something considering how needy he is normally. He has been on my lap a few times today and is currently causing me to type this one-handed so I can pet him.

Helping house panthers. If you’re a lover of the black kittehs like I am, go here to look at cat pictures, help with psychological research, and help the black ones (who are the least likely to be adopted) find homes.

Ouchie! I went to the beach on Monday in new water shoes that were not tight enough on my heels and between all the sand and water that got in there, I ended up with some pretty foul blisters. They’re bad enough that I’ll be in flip-flops for at least the next few weeks.

John McCain. Samantha Bee put it best when she said last year that an election is usually between two fundamentally decent people with a difference of opinion. (Obviously, 45 is an exception to this rule.) John McCain is a decent human being who has served his country both in the military and in Congress. My thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time. (He is also one of only two Republicans for whom I have voted — I voted for him in the primary in California in 2000 to try and knock Bush Jr. out of the race.)

Being able to be useful. I’m one of the few native Californians that doesn’t speak Spanish (I understand it but can’t speak it) and there was already a church youth group doing the program so I offered to just be an extra set of hands whenever I was able this week. This meant washing dishes for Christ. 🙂 They needed someone to do the breakfast dishes so I jumped to it. I may or may not have flooded the kitchen (twice) on Tuesday but I figured stuff out so that I was able to do all of it on my own on Wednesday. I’m bummed that I woke up with a migraine this morning and didn’t get to help. 🙁

Learning how to play Uno in Spanish. The church doing the program had math board games and card games for the kids and that included Uno. Most of the kids knew how to play it but one little girl didn’t… and didn’t understand a lot of English. I learned (and in a few cases reinforced) my colors in Spanish and learned the word for “zero” in order to explain what card she needed to play. (Like most kids who grew up watching Sesame Street, I did know how to count to ten.)

Teaching my kiddos to sing “When I Was One”. We had kids as young as 3 and it’s kind of hard to find math boardgames to do with them (they eventually just had them do extra playground time) so I did “When I Was One” with my younger kids to reinforce their numbers in English and because it’s fun. 🙂

Gave a lot of high fives to kids. When I was playing “Set” with some of the littler kids, I’d give them high-fives when they made a set because social praise is a fabulous reinforcer. Their smiles were so incredibly wonderful.

What do you like to do when you are not working or studying? SLEEP! 🙂 I also read too much, blog, hit the beach with Daniel (which I did today), search for the best iced vanilla latté with whole milk (the current winner: Diedrich Espresso), and crochet.

How does your online class work? It uses a learning management system called Canvas that is similar to Moodle or Blackboard. I login to the site using my school email address and click on the class on which I want to work at that moment. There’s usually a clickable copy of the syllabus and a list of learning modules and I click on one of them to do it. My instructors can create quizzes and tests online which I have until 11:59 p.m. on the due date to take and I can turn work in as well by uploading it to the site. There is almost always a discussion board on which we have to post and frequently, several of the assignments call for us to post something (and sometimes link a file) and then reply to two other classmates’ posts. (We can reply to as many people as we want usually.)

For my Microsoft Office classes, my school has used SNAP for evaluations but thankfully, they are moving away from it because it was a piece of crap last year — it crashed my laptop on a regular basis so I’d have to go do evaluations on the computers in two of the labs on campus in case something happened. I think the worst time was during my Excel/Access class when one of the Access skills exercises crashed 4 of the computers in the lab and then crashed my instructor’s office computer three times! She finally just opened up Access and told me to do some random things so she could give me the points.

Why did you choose Accounting? When I was working at the import brokerage in Montana from 2007 to 2010, they couldn’t find enough work for me to do within my job description so they asked our billing lead if she had anything I could do to help her. She had me help with some of her USDA vet bills twice a week and I found that to be kind of fun. When I had to find another job when I moved to southern California in 2010, most of the admin assistant ones wanted A/R or A/P (accounts receivable or accounts payable) experience and I didn’t know that the vet bills counted. When I moved up to Washington last year, Mom offered to pay for me to take a couple classes and I decided to take Practical Accounting and Excel/Access… and I fell in love.

What goes in your beach bag? I usually have… spare clothes for Daniel/me, Coppertone Waterbabies sunscreen, my Epi-Pen (I’m allergic to bee stings and most beaches here have a yellowjacket problem), my inhaler/spacer, children’s Benadryl (in case I get stung, it’s easier to get Benadryl down in liquid form), towels, talcum powder (yes… the Johnson & Johnson stuff that they think causes ovarian cancer — I don’t use it in my pelvic region and it’s one of the few things that gets sand off quickly which is important when you have sensory issues like mine and Daniel’s), a book, and sand toys for the kid.

Long answer: Kiddo needs someone to school him who understands how to reach him and help him learn in ways that I am not trained to do. All of his primary teachers have Master’s degrees in Education specializing in special education (and rare conditions, in the case of one of them) and have done their teaching hours with kiddos on the spectrum. Additionally, he gets speech/occupational/physical therapy at school and has the chance to be around other kids… which would totally NOT happen if I was homeschooling him because I’m so incredibly introverted and up until recently, kiddo couldn’t sit through a library program or well… anything except maybe AYSO VIP soccer (and I am not soccer mom material). It’s honestly a better fit for him and I’m a happier mama when I get that time to myself while he is in school.

How do you do school and take care of Daniel? I’m lucky enough that I can fit my classes “on the ground” into the hours when Daniel is at school. There have been a handful of times when he’s been sick or on school vacations when my mom hasn’t been able to watch him so I’ll usually just get notes from a classmate on those days. (Thankfully, I didn’t have to miss any quiz days in Accounting this year because those are quizzes I can’t make up, though she drops our three lowest scores so I’d be able to toss a couple of the ones I’d miss.)

As far as homework goes, kiddo LOVES his tablet so I would usually work on things either during his school day or in the evenings when he would be on his tablet or asleep. I plan online tests around his school schedule and when he’s asleep. On weekends, he has the ability to play independently so I’ll usually curl up with my laptop and any appropriate books while I keep an ear out for him.

What recommendations do you have for teaching kids about the church year? This is not my strength so I recommend you check out Jessica Snell’s list of resources, Kendra @ Jenna’s book, The Lazy Liturgical. Given that I run with bloggers who do this legitimately well, I can’t think of anyone else that would be recommended more highly than these three. (Oh yes, Jessica actually edited a series of books on this as well.)

I’ve been wanting to do something a little different for a few weeks, especially as I am trying to get back into the habit of blogging again after giving it up for Lent. I probably would have blogged more upon my return but I had a crazy quarter — it’s amazing how having two classes “on the ground” (translation: in person instead of online) can kill one’s posting schedule!

I have a new ministry. My priest has asked me to help out the Spanish-speaking congregation that shares our building with some bookkeeping. It should be interesting givem that I don’t speak Spanish but accounting tends to be the same in every language — assets = liabilities + owner’s equity.

I start a new quarter next week. I’ll be officially taking Interpersonal Communication which is described thusly:

Uses theory and practice to develop self-awareness, confidence, and skill in communicating effectively, building healthy relationships with others, and managing conflict. Explores the impact of self-concept, perception, language, emotions, and nonverbal behavior on communication.

Additionally, I will be outlining the Business English book to prepare to challenge both quarters of it in the fall and winter. (I have to challenge it in a quarter in which it is offered.) It’s basic grammar so it shouldn’t be too difficult.

I’m apparently apolitical. I haven’t talked much about politics lately… mostly because I avoid consuming media that depresses me and everything involving 45 and his minions is extremely depressing. We actually *HAD* international goodwill under Obama and now the entire world is pointing at us and laughing because 45 throws tantrums over Twitter, shoves other world leaders out of the way so he’s at the front of the pack (this happened at the NATO meeting), is being sued by members of Congress for his fraudulent business dealings, and loses every court case with which he is involved.

Seriously, all my Republican friends are depressed as hell at what has become of their party, especially when Republican Congressional leaders are acting so incredibly unethically.

On my hook. Current crocheting projects include a pair of socks, a pussy hat (I’m apparently now the hatmaker for the Resistance!), a prayer shawl, a temperature afghan, and a baby blanket. I don’t have a lot of time to crochet these days so I’m aiming to finish the pussyhat and the baby blanket before the end of the year.

Shared Quote… From CarouselConductor, a poster in one of the subreddits I frequent:

Loss. Whether a death, estrangement, or any other kind.
Losing someone leaves a hole. This hole is in the shape of the person who is gone. It has ragged, bleeding edges that hurt with every movement. It’s hard to even consider this void, because even looking at it brings pain. All you can do is hope that something fills it in, because it’s too wide. Too deep. Too open.
And then time passes. You remember the person, talk about them, the good times, the bad. The bleeding edges are still painful, but somehow, you can approach them a little closer. It’s tender, but the bleeding has been slowed. The void is keenly felt, and you wonder what it will take for it to just go away.
More time passes. It’s not so bad, when you look at the hole, now. You might be wondering when it will fill in. If you get too close, you can still see the echo of the person who left the hole. Peering into it might still be too much, and nothing moves the same way anymore. But the bleeding has stopped and the pain isn’t there every time you move.
As even more time goes by, you start to realize that things feel different, but that raging pain is more of a distant ache, now. If you look at the hole, you find that the edges are scarred over. The void is still there. The shape of what made it is still recognizable. And then you realize that the hole is there, and it will always be there.
The topography of what makes you, you, has changed.
The ragged edges have healed over and you find that in that thing you thought was a bottomless pit of pain, there is now a well of memories. It’s up to you if you visit for a time, or simply walk on by.
Give yourself time for the hole to heal. And it will heal, regardless of abstracts like forgiveness, regrets, blame, or anger. Even if it doesn’t seem like it.
Please seek help when dealing with the trauma of loss. No one should go through grief alone.

Closing Notes: My kickboxing class was cancelled for the fall and they emailed me today to let me know that I have priority enrollment for a yoga class they are adding.

*facepalm*

My mom laughed at me when I told her, commenting that it’s another form of stress management. I looked at her and replied that I have a deep need to punch and kick things and they just took away my ability to do this!!!!